Deal scoring system and method

ABSTRACT

Prospective deals for a deal vendor&#39;s deal inventory may be scored according to one or more population-specific expected-yield scores, such as expected revenue yield, expected new customers yield, and the like. A prospective deal is categorized and characterized according to a number of yield-related characteristics. Some or all of the prospective deal&#39;s characteristics are mapped to yield components derived from completed deals that have been offered to a particular population. An expected-yield score for a prospective deal with regard to that population is obtained by combining the mapped yield components.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/423,098, filed Mar. 16, 2012, titled “DEAL SCORING SYSTEM ANDMETHOD,” which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/453,855, filed Mar. 17, 2011, titled “DEAL SCORINGSYSTEM AND METHOD,” each incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to e-commerce, and more particularly toautomatically scoring “deals,” such as for “deal-of-the-day” websites.

BACKGROUND

Many web sites offer some sort of periodic (e.g., daily) deal. Someretailers, such as Amazon.com and Buy.com, feature a “deal of the day”item in addition to using conventional sales methods. Other web sitesoperated by deal vendors, such as Tippr.com, Groupon.com, and the like,partially or exclusively sell “deal” vouchers that are good fordiscounts on specified goods offered by other retailers or merchants.For example, a deal vendor might offer a “deal” voucher that can bepurchased for one price (e.g. $25) and that can be redeemed at aparticular merchant for goods and/or services having a higher value(e.g. $50) than the purchase price of the deal voucher. Such dealvendors typically earn revenue by retaining a portion of the purchaseprice of the deal voucher (e.g., when a consumer purchases a $25 dealvoucher, the deal vendor may keep $12.50 and pay $12.50 to the merchantat which the voucher can be redeemed). Many such deals are offered onlyfor a limited period of time and/or only in limited quantity.

Some deal-offering services (e.g., Google Offers, provided by GoogleInc. of Mountain View, Calif.) may refer to such “deals” as “offers,”“special offers,” or the like. The term “deal” is used herein to referto any such deal, discount offer, discount voucher, limited-time offer,limited-quantity offer, or the like.

Consumers often sign up for a deal vendor's mailing list to receiveperiodic deal offers from a deal vendor, e.g. via a daily email or othercommunication medium. Although a given deal vendor's mailing list mayinclude consumers from many cities, states, and/or countries, many dealvendors segment their consumer lists into regional populations. Forexample, many deal vendors segment their consumer lists into populationssegregated by city, zip code, or even neighborhood. Some or all of thesepopulations may be offered deals targeted to the population's particularlocale (e.g. deals that can be redeemed at a local and/or nearbymerchant).

Such periodic deal services (e.g., deal-of-the-day services) have beenpopular with many merchants. Consequently, many deal vendors may have aninventory of multiple potential deals that the vendor could select fortargeting to a given population for a given offer period. Agood-performing deal may generate many times more revenue than abad-performing deal, so many deal vendors may desire to selectgood-performing deals to offer. However, at the present time, dealvendors typically lack tools (automated or otherwise) for selectingwhich of a given set of potential deals will maximize revenue (or someother yield metric) for a given population for a given offer period.Rather, many deal vendors rely on human editorial staff to select dealsfor various populations for a given offer period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network diagram in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a deal vendor server in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified conceptual overview of past-deal dataassociated with different populations, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates several exemplary revenue-yield curves for anexemplary population, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a routine for processing historical deal data, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a prospective-deal scoring routine, in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a scoring subroutine for scoring a prospective dealaccording to one or more expected yields for a given target population,in accordance with one embodiment.

DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments, as described below, are directed generally toanswering the question of which deal should be offered to a particularpopulation for a given offer period to maximize the purchases and/ormargin for a limited inventory window. Some embodiments may select dealsto maximize relevancy to a target population, while also maximizingmargin and/or revenue for the deal vendor and/or the deal-offeringmerchant. As discussed further below, such embodiments may deal withvarious constraints that are specific to deal-vending services, such aslimited offer periods, limited deal quantities, target audiencedemographics and past deal behavior, deal-vendor margins, and the like.

In various embodiments, as described below, one or more potential dealsmay be evaluated and ranked according to several predictive yieldmetrics to optimize deal selection against a specific target population.Deal vendors may desire to evaluate potential deals in such a mannerbecause a good-performing deal may generate many times more revenue thana bad-performing deal. Moreover, “good” deals may please a deal vendor'scustomers, causing them to share the vendor's deals with others andbecome loyal, repeat customers of future deals offered by the dealvendor.

In various embodiments, several deal characteristics may be evaluatedagainst past deal-purchasing data for a target population to rankpotential deals, potentially identifying deals that will be popular withconsumers in the target population.

The detailed description that follows is represented largely in terms ofprocesses and symbolic representations of operations by conventionalcomputer components, including a processor, memory storage devices forthe processor, connected display devices, and input devices.Furthermore, these processes and operations may utilize conventionalcomputer components in a heterogeneous distributed computingenvironment, including remote file Servers, computer Servers, and memorystorage devices. Each of these conventional distributed computingcomponents is accessible by the processor via a communication network.

The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in someembodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,”“having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictatesotherwise.

Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments asillustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described inconnection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is nointent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On thecontrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, andequivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, orcombinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined,without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a number of interconnected devices in accordance withone embodiment. Deal database 120, merchant 115, consumer devices105A-D, third party data source 110, and deal vendor server 200 areconnected to network 150. In various embodiments, network 150 comprisescommunication switching, routing, and/or data storage capabilities. Invarious embodiments, network 150 may comprise some or all of theInternet, one or more intranets, and wired and/or wireless networkportions. In various embodiments, there may be more than one dealdatabase 120, merchant 115, and/or third party data source 110.Moreover, while FIG. 1 shows a single deal vendor server 200, inalternative embodiments, the functions, processes, and routinesperformed by deal vendor server 200 could be hosted or distributed amongtwo or more different devices. Many embodiments may use multiple devicesto comprise one logical device—for example, when deal vendor server 200and/or deal database 120 are executed or hosted in a “cloud computing”environment.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, deal vendor server 200 and dealdatabase 120 may be hosted on a single physical computing device. Forexample, in some embodiments, deal database 120 may include a processexecuting on deal vendor server 200.

In various embodiments, merchant 115, consumer devices 105A-D, and/orthird party data source 110 may include any device that is capable ofcommunicating with deal vendor server 200, including desktop computers,laptop computers, mobile phones and other mobile devices, PDAs, set-topboxes, and the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary deal vendor server 200. The examplesystem of FIG. 2 depicts a number of subsystems, modules, routines, andengines, some or all of which may by employed in a particularembodiment; the systems, modules, routines, and engines are not,however, limited to those illustrated. Other embodiments could bepracticed in any number of logical software and physical hardwarecomponents and modules. The modules and components are listed hereinmerely for example.

Deal vendor server 200 includes a processing unit 210, a memory 225, andan optional display 240, all interconnected, along with networkinterface 230, via bus 220. Memory 250 generally comprises a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), a read only memory (“ROM”), and/or a permanentmass storage device, such as a disk drive. In some embodiments, memory250 may also comprise a local and/or remote database, database server,and/or database service, such as deal database 120. In otherembodiments, network interface 230 and/or other database interface (notshown) may be used to communicate with deal database 120. Memory 250stores program code for a deal rank routine 600 (see FIG. 6, discussedbelow). In addition, memory 250 stores an operating system 255.

These and other software components may be loaded from a non-transientcomputer readable storage medium 295 into memory 250 of deal vendorserver 200 using a drive mechanism (not shown) associated with acomputer readable storage medium 295, such as a floppy disc, tape,DVD/CD-ROM drive, memory card. In some embodiments, software componentsmay also be loaded via the network interface 230 or other transient,non-storage media.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified conceptual overview of past-deal dataassociated with different populations, in accordance with oneembodiment. Populations 305 and 306 represent two different sub-segmentsof a deal vendor's consumer list. For example, in one embodiment,population 305 may include a plurality of consumers in a particularcity, zip code, or neighborhood, and population 306 may include aplurality of consumers in a different city, zip code, or neighborhood.In other embodiments, populations 305 and 306 may each include aplurality of customers segmented according to one or more demographicfactors (e.g., age, sex, income, and the like).

Past deals 310A and 311-312 represent a subset of deals that have beenpreviously offered to population 305. Similarly, past deals 310B and313-314 represent a subset of deals that have been previously offered topopulation 306. In some embodiments, past deals 310-314 may berepresented as records in deal database 120. In the illustrated example,past deal 310 was offered at some point to both of populations 305 and306. In many embodiments, one or both of populations 305 and 306 mayhave been previously offered many more deals than those illustrated inFIG. 3. However, it is not necessary to show all past deals in order todisclose an illustrative embodiment.

Each of past deals 310A-B and 311-314 (as well as other past deals, notshown) is associated with metadata related to various characteristics ofthe deal and various past-performance yield metrics, metadata that isalso stored in deal database 120.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, past deal 310 (310A and310B) is associated with (population-neutral) deal characteristics 320(discussed in more detail below), including a category characteristic321, a price characteristic 322, a discount characteristic 323, a brandstrength characteristic 324, a limitations/exclusions characteristic325, and one or more third-party characteristics 326. In otherembodiments, metadata associated with more, fewer, and/or differentcharacteristics may be similarly stored.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a categorycharacteristic 321, which classifies the goods and/or services for whichthe deal may be redeemed. For example, in one embodiment, a deal may beclassified into categories such as the following:

-   -   dining and nightlife;    -   health and beauty;    -   fitness and nutrition;    -   retail and services;    -   activities and adventures;    -   travel;    -   and the like.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, deals may be sub-classified intosub-categories, sub-sub-categories, and so on (not shown). For example,in one embodiment, a “dining and nightlife” category may include severalsub-categories, such as restaurants, bars, coffee, bakeries, nightclubs,and the like. For example, a deal that can be redeemed for $50 worth offood at “Joe's Diner” may be classified in the “dining and nightlife”category and the “restaurants” sub-category.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a price characteristic322, which refers to the purchase price of the deal itself (as opposedto the value of goods/services for which the deal can be redeemed). Forexample, a deal that can be purchased for $25 may have a pricecharacteristic of $25. Price characteristic 322 is thus an objectivemeasure.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a discountcharacteristic 323, which refers to the price of the deal (322) comparedto the value of goods/services for which the deal can be redeemed. Forexample, a deal that can be purchased for $25 and redeemed for $50 worthof food may have a “50%” discount characteristic. Discountcharacteristic 323 is thus an objective measure.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a brand strengthcharacteristic 324, which refers to the amount of goodwill associatedwith the brand name of the goods/services for which the deal can beredeemed. For example, a first merchant that has operated for yearsunder a given brand name, with many favorable reviews, and is well-knownas a source of high-quality goods/services may have more goodwillassociated with its brand than a second merchant that is newly opened,recently changed its name, and/or is known as a source of low-qualitygoods/services. Thus, a deal redeemable at the first merchant may have abetter brand strength characteristic 324 than a deal redeemable at thesecond merchant. In some embodiments, brand strength characteristic 324may be a subjective measure assigned by an editor. In other embodiments,brand strength characteristic 324 may be an objective measure derivedfrom automatically-determinable data, such as quantities of positivereviews for the merchant on social networking and/or review web sites,quantities of mentions in publicly accessible media, and the like.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with one or morelimitations/exclusions characteristics 325, which refer to the quantityand/or quality of restrictions and/or limitations that are placed on thepurchase and/or redemption of a deal. Examples of such limitationsand/or exclusions may include characteristics such as some or all of thefollowing:

-   -   limitations on how many times a consumer is allowed to purchase        a deal (e.g., limit one deal per person vs. limit ten deals per        person);    -   limitations on goods/services for which the deal can be redeemed        (e.g., the deal cannot be redeemed for alcoholic beverages or        the deal good only for some, but not all, of a merchant's        services);    -   limitations on when the deal can be redeemed (e.g., deal can be        redeemed only Sunday-Thursday);    -   and the like.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with one or more third-partycharacteristics 326, which may refer to any number of metrics maintainedby and/or accessible from an entity other than the deal vendor. Examplesof such third-party characteristics 326 may include characteristics suchas some or all of the following:

-   -   quantity and/or frequency of “check-ins” at the merchant's        location(s) on a location-based social network service;    -   merchant reviews, scores, and/or “star-ratings” on        consumer-review services, local search services, or the like;    -   quantity of “likes” associated with the merchant, quantity of        “fans” associated with the merchant, quantity of group members        associated with the merchant, and/or other similar measures of        approval or approbation on one or more social network services;    -   and the like.

In addition, each of past deals 310A-B and 311-314 (as well as otherpast deals, not shown) is associated with metadata related to variouspopulation-specific characteristics of the deal. For example, in theillustrated embodiment, past deal 310A is associated withpopulation-specific deal characteristics 330A related to population 305,including a locations/distance characteristic 331A, a market sizecharacteristic 332A, promotion type characteristic(s) 334A, and one ormore third-party characteristics 323A. Past deal 310B is associated withpopulation-specific deal characteristics 330B related to population 306,including a locations/distance characteristic 331B, a market sizecharacteristic 332B, promotion type characteristic(s) 334B, and one ormore third-party characteristics 323B. In other embodiments, metadataassociated with more, fewer, and/or different population-specificcharacteristics may be similarly stored. In some embodiments, some suchcharacteristics (e.g., market size 332) may be considered to bepopulation-neutral characteristics.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with one or morelocation/distance characteristics 331, which refer to the relativegeo-locations of consumers in the relevant population and thegeo-location or locations of the merchant at which the deal can beredeemed, also referred to as fulfillment locations. Examples of suchlocation/distance characteristics 331 may include characteristics suchas some or all of the following:

-   -   quantity of fulfillment locations (e.g., an independent spa may        have only one location at which the deal can be redeemed,        whereas a spa that is part of a large chain may have multiple        fulfillment locations);    -   distance from the target population to fulfillment location(s)        (e.g., how far will a consumer in the target population likely        have to travel to redeem the deal);    -   and the like.

Some deals may be redeemable for services that are unrelated to anyparticular geo-location. For example, a deal that can be fulfilledon-line may require consumers in the target population to travel zerodistance to redeem the deal. For another example, a deal for on-siteauto-detailing (i.e., the merchant travels to the consumer) maysimilarly require consumers in the target population to travel zerodistance to redeem the deal.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a market sizecharacteristic 332, which refers to the size of the addressable marketwithin the target population. For example, deals that are redeemable forfood may address a market consisting of essentially all of the targetpopulation (as virtually all consumers consume food). By contrast, adeal that is redeemable for a facial or a bikini wax may address amarket consisting of a relatively large fraction of the targetpopulation (e.g., 50-60%, as fewer than all consumers typically consumesuch services). Deals for specialized goods/services (e.g., music DJlessons) may address only a small fraction of the target population.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with one or more promotiontype characteristic(s) 334, which refer to channels by which the dealwas promoted to the target population. Examples of such promotion typecharacteristic(s) 334 may include promotion types such as some or all ofthe following:

-   -   email promotion;    -   social network promotion;    -   micro-blogging promotion;    -   text message promotion;    -   television promotion;    -   radio promotion;    -   and the like.

In one embodiment, a deal may be associated with a one or morethird-party population-specific characteristics 323. Examples of suchthird-party population-specific characteristics 323 may includecharacteristics such as some or all of the following:

-   -   quantity and/or frequency of blog, micro-blog, status updates or        other like posts about the particular deal;    -   quantity of “likes” associated with the particular deal,        quantity of “fans” associated with the particular deal, quantity        of group members associated with the particular deal, and/or        other similar measures of approval or approbation on one or more        social network services;    -   and the like.

Each of past deals 310A-B and 311-314 (as well as other past deals, notshown) is also associated with metadata related to variouspast-performance yield metrics, such as some or all of the following:

-   -   revenue yield 341 (e.g., how much revenue did a given deal        generate when offered to a given population);    -   return customers yield 342 (e.g., in a given population, how        many consumers who purchased a given deal also purchased a        later-offered deal);    -   referrals yield 343 (e.g., when offered to a given population,        how many referrals did a given deal generate);    -   new subscribers yield 344 (e.g., how many new consumers signed        up with the deal vendor when a given deal was offered to a given        population);    -   and the like.

In other embodiments, metadata associated with more, fewer, and/ordifferent yield metrics may be similarly stored.

Using deal characteristics 331-334 and 321-326 and past-performanceyield metrics 341-344, various expected-yield curves may be determinedfor all of part of a population. As the term is used herein,“expected-yield curve” or “yield curve” refers to a data structureand/or program code that maps an input value to an output valueaccording to a pre-determined scheme.

For example, FIG. 4 illustrates several exemplary yield curves 441A-Ffor population 305, which graphically illustrate relationships betweenthe average revenue yields for a group of some or all of past deals(e.g., 310A, 311, 312, . . . ) that have been offered to population 305,in accordance with one embodiment.

Revenue/distance yield curve 405A shows that in population 305, averagedeal-revenue yields 441A vary according to a location/distance yieldcomponent 431. More specifically, average deal-revenue yields 441A aregenerally higher for deals in which fulfillment locations are morenumerous and/or are geographically closer to population 305, and aregenerally lower for deals in which fulfillment locations are lessnumerous and/or are geographically distant from population 305. Thus,deals having a location/distance characteristic value 405 may havehistorically had an average deal yield value 410 in population 305.

Similarly, revenue/market size yield curve 405B shows that in population305, average deal-revenue yields 441B generally vary directly accordingto the size of an addressable market yield component 432 withinpopulation 305. Revenue/limitations yield curve 405C shows that inpopulation 305, average deal-revenue yields 441C generally decline as adeal limitation and/or exclusion yield component 425 increases.

Revenue/price yield curve 405D shows that in population 305, averagedeal-revenue yields 441D are highest for deals that are priced in themiddle of a range of a price yield component 422. For example, membersof population 305 may find that, other deal characteristics being equal,very low-priced deals are less likely to be worth the hassle ofpurchasing and redeeming the deal, whereas very high-priced deals mayentice fewer consumers to purchase the deal.

Revenue/discount yield curve 405E shows that in population 305, averagedeal-revenue yields 441E are higher for deals in which a discount yieldcomponent 423 represents a higher discount level (e.g., 75%) than fordeals in which discount yield component 423 represents a lower discountlevel (e.g., 25%). In populations that are more discount-sensitive, therevenue/discount yield curve 405E may be steeper, whereas in populationsthat are less discount-sensitive, the revenue/brand strength yield curve405E may be shallower.

Revenue/brand strength yield curve 405F shows that in population 305,average deal-revenue yields 441F generally vary directly according to abrand strength yield component 424 of the merchant. In populations thatare more brand-sensitive, the revenue/brand strength yield curve 405Fmay be steeper, whereas in populations that are less brand-sensitive,the revenue/brand strength yield curve 405F may be shallower.

Yield curves 405A-E represent only an exemplary set of yield componentsand yield curves that may be determined for a set of deals that havebeen offered to a given population. In other embodiments, any of dealcharacteristics 331-333 and 321-326, or other deal characteristics, maybe treated as yield components for a given set of deals and compared fora given population against any of deal-yields 341-344, or other dealyields. Thus, some embodiments may determine for a given population, forexample, yield curves such as some or all of the following:

-   -   return-customer/location;    -   return-customer/market-size;    -   return-customer/price;    -   return-customer/discount;    -   return-customer/third-party-characteristic (e.g., return        customers according to quantity of social network “likes” of the        merchant, according to a star rating of the merchant on a        consumer-reviews service, and the like);    -   new-subscriber/location;    -   new-subscriber/market-size;    -   new-subscriber/price;    -   new-subscriber/discount;    -   return-customer/third-party-characteristic;    -   and the like.

Moreover, in some embodiments, a set of yield curves may be furtherbroken down by category. Thus, other embodiments may determine, forexample, a first new-subscriber/price yield curve for deals in category“X” that have been offered to a given population, a secondnew-subscriber/price yield curve for deals in category “Y” that havebeen offered to the given population, and a third new-subscriber/priceyield curve for deals in category “Z” that have been offered to a givenpopulation.

In various embodiments, as discussed below, deal-yield curves such asthose discussed above may be used to determine a one or morepopulation-specific expected-yield scores for a given prospective deal.

FIG. 5 illustrates a routine 500 for processing historical deal data, inaccordance with one embodiment. In various embodiments, routine 500 maybe performed by deal vendor server 200 to add deal data to deal database120, from which the deal data may be further processed by routine 600(see FIG. 6, discussed below).

In block 505, routine 500 obtains data related to one or more completeddeal offerings. For example, in one embodiment, routine 500 may obtaindata from a corpus of one or more completed deals that were previouslyoffered to one or more target populations.

Beginning in starting loop block 510, routine 500 processes eachcompleted deal. In block 515, routine 500 determines one or more dealcharacteristics for the current completed deal. For example, in oneembodiment, routine 500 may determine one or more population-neutraldeal characteristics such as a category characteristic 321, a pricecharacteristic 322, a discount characteristic 323, a brand strengthcharacteristic 324, a limitations/exclusions characteristic 325, and/orone or more third-party characteristics 326, as discussed above inreference to FIG. 3. In some embodiments, some or all of the dealcharacteristics may be (or have previously been) automaticallydetermined (e.g., price, discount, and the like). In other embodiments,some of the deal characteristics may have been determined through apartially automated or manual editorial process, or may have beenspecified by the merchant offering the deal (e.g., category,limitations/exclusions, and the like).

In block 520, routine 500 determines one or more target populations towhich the current completed deal was offered. Beginning in opening loopblock 525, routine 500 processes each of the one or more targetpopulations.

In block 530, routine 500 determines one or more population-specificdeal characteristics for the current completed deal. For example, in oneembodiment, routine 500 may determine one or more population-specificdeal characteristics such as locations/distance characteristic 331, amarket size characteristic 332, promotion type characteristic(s) 334,and one or more third-party characteristics 323, as discussed above inreference to FIG. 3.

In block 533, routine 500 determines one or more population-specificyield metrics for the current completed deal. For example, in oneembodiment, routine 500 may determine one or more population-specificyield metrics such as revenue yield 341, return customers yield 342,referrals yield 343, new subscribers yield 344, as discussed above inreference to FIG. 3.

In block 537, routine 500 associates the yield metrics determined inblock 533 and the deal characteristics determined in blocks 515 and 530with the current completed deal in a deal database (e.g., deal database120).

In ending loop block 540, routine 500 iterates back to block 525 toprocess the next target population (if any). In ending loop block 545,routine 500 iterates back to block 510 to process the next completeddeal (if any). Having processed each completed deal, routine 500 ends inblock 599.

FIG. 6 illustrates a prospective-deal scoring routine 600, such as maybe performed by deal vendor server 200 in accordance with oneembodiment. In block 610, routine 600 obtains a prospective deal. Forexample, in one embodiment, a merchant (e.g., merchant 115) may submit aform via a web or other interface, the form specifying various aspectsof a deal that the merchant wishes to offer via a deal vendor service(such as that offered by deal vendor server 200). In some embodiments,the prospective deal may specify deal characteristics such as the goodsand/or services for which the deal can be redeemed; information aboutthe merchant offering the deal and/or fulfilling the deal; locations atwhich the deal can be redeemed; time periods during which the deal canbe redeemed; the price at which a consumer can purchase the deal; thevalue of the goods and/or services for which the deal can be redeemed;populations to which the deal may be targeted; and other like terms,conditions, and/or characteristics. In some embodiments, the merchantmay also select a category into which the deal fits.

In block 615, routine 600 categorizes the prospective deal. In someembodiments, the prospective deal may be automatically categorized basedon deal characteristics or other information obtained in block 610. Inother embodiments, routine 600 may automatically determine a categorybased on a description of goods and/or services for which the deal canbe redeemed, or based on information about the merchant at which thedeal can be redeemed. In still other embodiments, a partially automatededitorial process may be employed to categorize the prospective deal.

In block 620, routine 600 determines one or more (population-neutral)deal characteristics for the prospective deal. In some embodiments, someor all of such (population-neutral) deal characteristics may have beenobtained in block 610 or may be automatically determinable frominformation obtained in block 610. In other embodiments, routine 600 maydetermine at least some of the (population-neutral) deal characteristicsusing a partially automated editorial process. In still otherembodiments, routine 600 may determine one or more (population-neutral)deal characteristics using data obtained from a third-party data source(e.g., data source 110). For example, in one embodiment, routine 600 mayobtain information about the merchant offering the deal and/or about thegoods and/or services for which the deal can be redeemed fromthird-party social networking services, location-based services, boggingor micro-blogging services, consumer-review services, web searchservices, or the like.

In block 625, routine 600 determines one or more target populations towhich the prospective deal may be offered. In some embodiments, routine600 may be performed by a deal vendor server 200 that offers dealstargeted to more than one population. In such embodiments, one or moretarget populations may have been specified in information obtained inblock 610. Alternatively, one or more target populations may beautomatically determined based on information about merchant locationsat which the deal can be redeemed. For example, if the prospective dealcan be redeemed at several locations within the greater Seattle area,then one or more target populations including consumers in the greaterSeattle area may be determined. Similarly, if the if the prospectivedeal can be redeemed only at one location in the Queen Anne neighborhoodof Seattle, then one or more target populations including consumers inthe Queen Anne neighborhood and/or the 98119 and 98109 zip codes may bedetermined.

Beginning in opening loop block 630, routine 600 processes each of theone or more determined target populations. In block 635, routine 600determines one or more population-specific deal characteristics. Forexample, in one embodiment, routine 600 may determine a size of theaddressable market within the target population (see market sizecharacteristic 332, discussed above in reference to FIG. 3). In someembodiments, routine 600 may instead or in addition determine one ormore promotion types for promoting the prospective deal to the targetpopulation.

In subroutine block 700 (see FIG. 7, discussed below), routine 600scores the prospective deal according to one or more expected yields forthe current target population. For example, in one embodiment, routine600 may score the prospective deal according to an expected revenueyield from the current target population (e.g., if the prospective dealwere offered to the current target population, it would be expected toyield X dollars in revenue to the deal vendor service and/or to themerchant). In other embodiments, routine 600 may score the prospectivedeal according to other population-specific yields, such as a newsubscriber yield (e.g., if the prospective deal were offered to thecurrent target population, it would be expected to yield X newsubscribers to the deal vendor service), a return customer yield (e.g.,if the prospective deal were offered to the current target population,it would be expected to yield X return customers to the deal vendorservice), or the like.

In decision block 645, routine 600 determines whether to accept theprospective deal. For example, in one embodiment, routine 600 maycompare one or more expected yield scores against one or more thresholdsto determine whether to accept the prospective deal for potentialoffering to the current target population. If routine 600 determines notto accept the prospective deal, then in block 650, routine 600 indicatesthat the deal is rejected. For example, in one embodiment, routine 600may indicate (e.g., via a web interface) to the requesting merchant thatthe prospective deal does not meet one or more standard for dealstargeted to the current population. In some embodiments, routine 600 mayfurther provide information about the expected yield(s) that caused theprospective deal to be rejected, and/or routine 600 may further provideinformation about how to improve the expected yield of the deal (e.g.,remove limitations, lower the price/increase the discount level, and thelike).

On the other hand, if in block 645, routine 600 determines to accept theprospective deal, then in block 655, routine 600 adds the prospectivedeal to a deal inventory for the current population. For example, in oneembodiment, routine 600 may associate the prospective deal with atarget-population deal inventory in deal database 120. In ending loopblock 660, routine 600 iterates back to block 630 to process the nexttarget population (if any).

At some point after processing all of the target populations, in block665, routine 600 uses the expected-yield scores determined in iterationsof block 700 to select deals for various target populations from varioustarget-population deal inventories. For example, in one embodiment,routine 600 may fill an opening to offer a deal on a given day to agiven target population, selecting a deal that is expected to yield ahigh return according to one or more population-specific yield metrics(e.g., revenue, new subscribers, and the like).

Routine 600 ends in block 699.

FIG. 7 illustrates a scoring subroutine 700 for scoring a prospectivedeal according to one or more expected-yield metrics for a given targetpopulation, in accordance with one embodiment. Beginning in opening loopblock 705, subroutine 700 processes one or more population-specificexpected-yield metrics. For example, in one embodiment, subroutine 700may process one or more population-specific expected-yield metrics suchas an expected-revenue yield, an expected-return-customers yield, anexpected-referrals yield, an expected-new-subscribers yield, and thelike.

In block 710, subroutine 700 initializes an expected-yield score datastructure for the current expected yield metric. In block 715,subroutine 700 obtains one or more yield-component characteristics. Insome embodiments, the one or more yield-component characteristics areselected from a group of deal characteristics associated with theprospective deal and the target population. The one or more yieldcomponents may in some embodiments be selected from a group includingdeal characteristics 321-326 and population-specific dealcharacteristics 331-333 (as discussed above in relation to FIG. 3). Forexample, in one exemplary embodiment, an expected-revenue-yield scoremay be determined from yield curves 405A-F, as illustrated in FIG. 4,discussed above. In such an exemplary embodiment, the yield componentswould include a locations/distance yield component 431, a market sizeyield component 432, a limitations/exclusions yield component 425, aprice yield component 422, a discount yield component 423, and a brandstrength yield component 424.

Beginning in opening loop block 720, subroutine 700 processes each ofthe one or more yield components obtained in block 715. In block 725,subroutine 700 obtains and/or determines one or more completed-dealyield curves for the current yield component. For example, in oneexemplary embodiment, subroutine 700 may obtain one of yield curves405A-F, as illustrated in FIG. 4, discussed above.

In block 735, subroutine 700 determines the value of a dealcharacteristic of the prospective deal that corresponds to the currentyield component. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, if thecurrent yield component were discount yield component 423, thensubroutine 700 would determine the value of the discount dealcharacteristic 323 for the prospective deal. Similarly, if the currentyield component were market size yield component 432, then subroutine700 would determine the value of the market size deal characteristic 332for the prospective deal and the given target population.

In block 740, subroutine 700 maps the value of the deal characteristicobtained in block 735 to an expected yield according to the currentcompleted-deal yield curve. For example, if the current yield componentwere locations/distance component 431, the current completed-deal yieldcurve were yield curve 405A, and the current deal characteristic(locations/distance deal characteristic 331) had value 405, thensubroutine 700 would map deal characteristic value 405 to expected yield410.

In block 745, subroutine 700 adjusts the expected yield obtained inblock 745 according to a weighting factor that controls how variousyield components are combined. In some embodiments, yield components maybe weighted equally. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, each ofsix yield components (locations/distance yield component 431, marketsize yield component 432, limitations/exclusions yield component 425,price yield component 422, a discount yield component 423, and brandstrength yield component 424) may be assigned a weighting factor of ⅙,such that the sum of each of the six expected yield components wouldrepresent an overall expected yield for the current yield metric.

In other embodiments, different yield components may be weighteddifferently, as in some embodiments, a given category of deal may not besignificantly affected by certain yield components For example, fordeals in categories in which goods and/or services are fulfilledelectronically, a locations/distance yield component may play a small ornegligible role in determining an expected yield. (Alternatively, forsuch categories, a locations/distance yield component may be completelyomitted from expected-yield determinations, or assigned a weight of zeroto constructively omit the yield component from the expected-yielddetermination.)

Conversely, in some embodiments, for certain populations and/orcategories, some yield components (e.g., a price yield component and/ora discount yield component) may dominate the expected yield, such yieldcomponents being assigned higher weighting factors than other yieldcomponents.

In block 750, subroutine 700 accumulates the current adjusted expectedyield into the overall expected-yield score data structure (initializedin block 710) for the current expected-yield metric (for the givenprospective deal and the given target population).

In closing loop block 760, subroutine 700 iterates back to block 720 toprocess the next yield component (if any). Once all yield componentshave been processed, in block 765, subroutine 700 stores (at least intransient memory) the current expected-yield score (which includesweighted expected yield values derived from each yield component for thecurrent expected-yield metric). In some embodiments, the currentexpected-yield score is stored at least until the current expected-yieldscore is returned in block 799.

In closing loop block 770, subroutine 700 iterates back to block 705 toprocess the next population-specific expected-yield metric (if any).Having processed each population-specific expected-yield metric,subroutine 700 ends in block 799, returning one or more expected-yieldscores for the prospective deal.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, a whole variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementationsmay be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and describedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thisapplication is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of theembodiments discussed herein.

We claim:
 1. A machine-implemented method comprising, by circuitry of aserver: receiving, over a network, a prospective deal from a remotelylocated merchant, wherein the prospective deal includes one or moremerchant specified deal components, including an offer period duringwhich the prospective deal can be redeemed, wherein the one or moremerchant specified deal components are specified by the remotely locatedmerchant via a form displayed on a user interface; receiving, over thenetwork, data from a remotely located third-party source; converting, bythe circuitry, the data received from the remotely located third-partysource into one or more third-party derived deal components; trackingcompleted deal data associated with completed deals that were previouslyoffered to a consumer device population; generating metadata associatedwith the completed deal data to facilitate a programmatic analysis,wherein generating the metadata includes: determining one or morecompleted deal populations based on consumer device populations thatwere previously offered the completed deals; determining dealcharacteristic data defining deal characteristics for the completeddeals, wherein the deal characteristics of the completed deals include adistance characteristic, a market size characteristic, a pricecharacteristic, a discount characteristic, and a brand strengthcharacteristic; determining a yield metric associated with the completeddeals; generating, by the circuitry, for each of one or more completeddeal populations, yield curve functions for the yield metric, whereineach yield curve function outputs an expected yield value based on aninput deal characteristic value per each of the one or more completeddeal populations; and storing the yield curve functions within adatabase; performing the programmatic analysis for the prospective dealfor the target consumer device population based on: determiningpopulation-neutral deal components of the prospective deal based atleast on the one or more merchant specified deal components and the oneor more third-party derived deal components; determiningpopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal based atleast on the one or more merchant specified deal components, wherein thedeal components of the prospective deal, including thepopulation-neutral deal components of the prospective deal and thepopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal, include thedistance characteristic, the market size characteristic, the pricecharacteristic, the discount characteristic, and the brand strengthcharacteristic; determining one or more target consumer devicepopulations to which the prospective deal will be offered based at leaston the offer period; determining selected yield curve functions from theyield curve functions stored within the database based on querying thedatabase using the deal components of the prospective deal, includingthe population-neutral deal components of the prospective deal and thepopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal, and the oneor more target consumer device populations to which the prospective dealwill be offered, wherein the selected yield curve functions include ayield curve function for each of the distance characteristic, marketsize characteristic, price characteristic, discount characteristic, andbrand strength characteristic; determining expected yield values foreach of the selected yield curve functions by providing, as input, thedeal components of the prospective deal associated with each selectedyield curve function, wherein the expected yield values include a yieldvalue for each of the distance characteristic, market sizecharacteristic, price characteristic, discount characteristic, and brandstrength characteristic; adjusting the expected yield values for each ofthe selected yield curve functions on a per deal component basis, inaccordance with weighting factors, to generate adjusted expected yieldvalues; determining an associated threshold for each of the expectedyield values; comparing one or more adjusted expected yield valuesagainst the associated thresholds for each of the expected yield valuesto determine whether to accept the prospective deal for offering to theone or more target consumer device populations; accepting theprospective deal for offering to the target consumer device populationvia the network when each of the expected yield values satisfy theassociated threshold for each of the expected yield values; andrejecting the prospective deal for offering to the target consumerdevice population via the network when each of the expected yield valuesdo not satisfy the associated threshold for each of the expected yieldvalues; and providing, over the network, to the user interfaceassociated with the remotely located merchant that the prospective dealhas been accepted or rejected, wherein if the prospective deal isrejected the providing of the rejection includes information about theexpected yields that caused the prospective deal to be rejected and arecommendation about improving the expected yield.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the deal characteristic data includes one or morepopulation-neutral deal characteristics comprising at least one of: acategory characteristic; a price characteristic; a discountcharacteristic; a brand strength characteristic; a limitationscharacteristic; an exclusions characteristic; or a third partycharacteristic.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the dealcharacteristic data includes one or more population-specific dealcharacteristics including at least one of: a location characteristic; adistance characteristic; a market size characteristic; a promotion typecharacteristic; and a population-specific third party characteristic. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the yield metric includes: a revenueyield; a return customers yield; a referrals yield; or a new subscriberyield.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the deal characteristics of thecompleted deals and the deal components of the prospective deal includeone or more location/di stance characteristics including: a quantity offulfilment locations; or a distance to the fulfillment locations.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the deal characteristics of the completeddeals and the deal components of the prospective deal include one ormore promotion type characteristics including: an email promotion; asocial network promotion; a micro-blogging promotion; a text messagepromotion; a television promotion; or a radio promotion.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the deal characteristics of the completed deals andthe deal components of the prospective deal include one or more categorycharacteristics including: a dining and nightlife category; a health andbeauty category; a fitness and nutrition category; a retail and servicescategory; a activities and adventures category; or a travel category. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the deal characteristics of the completeddeals and the deal components of the prospective deal include a pricecharacteristic or a discount characteristic.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the target consumer device population includes: a return user; anew user; a user demographic; or a user associated with a location. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the recommendation about improving theexpected yield includes removing at least one of the merchant specifieddeal components.
 11. An apparatus, comprising: circuitry configured to:receive, over a network, a prospective deal from a remotely locatedmerchant, wherein the prospective deal includes one or more merchantspecified deal components, including an offer period during which theprospective deal can be redeemed, wherein the one or more merchantspecified deal components are specified by the remotely located merchantvia a form displayed on a user interface; receive, over the network,data from a remotely located third-party source; convert, by thecircuitry, the data received from the remotely located third-partysource into one or more third-party derived deal components; trackcompleted deal data associated with completed deals that were previouslyoffered to a consumer device population; generate metadata associatedwith the completed deal data to facilitate a programmatic analysis,wherein the circuitry configured to generate the metadata includes thecircuitry being configured to: determine one or more completed dealpopulations based on consumer device populations that were previouslyoffered the completed deals; determine deal characteristic data definingdeal characteristics for the completed deals, wherein the dealcharacteristics of the completed deals include a distancecharacteristic, a market size characteristic, a price characteristic, adiscount characteristic, and a brand strength characteristic; determinea yield metric associated with the completed deals; generate, by thecircuitry, for each of one or more completed deal populations, yieldcurve functions for the yield metric, wherein each yield curve functionoutputs an expected yield value based on an input deal characteristicvalue per each of the one or more completed deal populations; and storethe yield curve functions within a database; perform the programmaticanalysis for the prospective deal for the target consumer devicepopulation, wherein the circuitry configured to perform the programmaticanalysis includes the circuitry being configured to: determinepopulation-neutral deal components of the prospective deal based atleast on the one or more merchant specified deal components and the oneor more third-party derived deal components; determinepopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal based atleast on the one or more merchant specified deal components, wherein thedeal components of the prospective deal, including thepopulation-neutral deal components of the prospective deal and thepopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal, include thedistance characteristic, the market size characteristic, the pricecharacteristic, the discount characteristic, and the brand strengthcharacteristic; determine one or more target consumer device populationsto which the prospective deal will be offered based at least on theoffer period; determine selected yield curve functions from the yieldcurve functions stored within the database based on querying thedatabase using the deal components of the prospective deal, includingthe population-neutral deal components of the prospective deal and thepopulation-specific deal components of the prospective deal, and the oneor more target consumer device populations to which the prospective dealwill be offered, wherein the selected yield curve functions include ayield curve function for each of the distance characteristic, marketsize characteristic, price characteristic, discount characteristic, andbrand strength characteristic; determine expected yield values for eachof the selected yield curve functions by providing, as input, the dealcomponents of the prospective deal associated with each selected yieldcurve function, wherein the expected yield values include a yield valuefor each of the distance characteristic, market size characteristic,price characteristic, discount characteristic, and brand strengthcharacteristic; adjust the expected yield values for each of theselected yield curve functions on a per deal component basis, inaccordance with weighting factors, to generate adjusted expected yieldvalues; determine an associated threshold for each of the expected yieldvalues; compare one or more adjusted expected yield values against theassociated thresholds for each of the expected yield values to determinewhether to accept the prospective deal for offering to the one or moretarget consumer device populations; accept the prospective deal foroffering to the target consumer device population via the network wheneach of the expected yield values satisfy the associated threshold foreach of the expected yield values; and reject the prospective deal foroffering to the target consumer device population via the network wheneach of the expected yield values do not satisfy the associatedthreshold for each of the expected yield values; and provide, over thenetwork, to the user interface associated with the remotely locatedmerchant that the prospective deal has been accepted or rejected,wherein if the prospective deal is rejected the providing of therejection includes information about the expected yields that caused theprospective deal to be rejected and a recommendation about improving theexpected yield.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the dealcharacteristic data includes one or more population-neutral dealcharacteristics comprising at least one of: a category characteristic; aprice characteristic; a discount characteristic; a brand strengthcharacteristic; a limitations characteristic; an exclusionscharacteristic; or a third party characteristic.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the deal characteristic data includes one or morepopulation-specific deal characteristics including at least one of: alocation characteristic; a distance characteristic; a market sizecharacteristic; a promotion type characteristic; and apopulation-specific third party characteristic.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the yield metric includes: a revenue yield; a returncustomers yield; a referrals yield; or a new subscriber yield.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the deal characteristics of the completeddeals and the deal components of the prospective deal include one ormore location/di stance characteristics including: a quantity offulfilment locations; or a distance to the fulfillment locations. 16.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the deal characteristics of thecompleted deals and the deal components of the prospective deal includeone or more promotion type characteristics including: an emailpromotion; a social network promotion; a micro-blogging promotion; atext message promotion; a television promotion; or a radio promotion.17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the deal characteristics of thecompleted deals and the deal components of the prospective deal includeone or more category characteristics including: a dining and nightlifecategory; a health and beauty category; a fitness and nutritioncategory; a retail and services category; a activities and adventurescategory; or a travel category.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe deal characteristics of the completed deals and the deal componentsof the prospective deal include a price characteristic or a discountcharacteristic.
 19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the targetconsumer device population includes: a return user; a new user; a userdemographic; or a user associated with a location.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 11, wherein the recommendation about improving the expected yieldincludes removing at least one of the merchant specified dealcomponents.
 21. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium and computer program instructionsstored therein, the computer program instructions comprising programinstructions that when executed by a processor configured the processorto: receive, over a network, a prospective deal from a remotely locatedmerchant, wherein the prospective deal includes one or more merchantspecified deal components, including an offer period during which theprospective deal can be redeemed, wherein the one or more merchantspecified deal components are specified by the remotely located merchantvia a form displayed on a user interface; receive, over the network,data from a remotely located third-party source; convert, by theprocessor, the data received from the remotely located third-partysource into one or more third-party derived deal components; trackcompleted deal data associated with completed deals that were previouslyoffered to a consumer device population; generate metadata associatedwith the completed deal data to facilitate a programmatic analysis,wherein the program instructions that when executed by the processorconfigured the processor to generate the metadata includes programinstructions that when executed by a processor configured the processorto: determine one or more completed deal populations based on consumerdevice populations that were previously offered the completed deals;determine deal characteristic data defining deal characteristics for thecompleted deals, wherein the deal characteristics of the completed dealsinclude a distance characteristic, a market size characteristic, a pricecharacteristic, a discount characteristic, and a brand strengthcharacteristic; determine a yield metric associated with the completeddeals; generate, by the processor, for each of one or more completeddeal populations, yield curve functions for the yield metric, whereineach yield curve function outputs an expected yield value based on aninput deal characteristic value per each of the one or more completeddeal populations; and store the yield curve functions within a database;perform the programmatic analysis for the prospective deal for thetarget consumer device population, wherein the program instructions thatwhen executed by a processor configured the processor to perform theprogrammatic analysis includes program instructions that when executedby a processor configured the processor to: determine population-neutraldeal components of the prospective deal based at least on the one ormore merchant specified deal components and the one or more third-partyderived deal components; determine population-specific deal componentsof the prospective deal based at least on the one or more merchantspecified deal components, wherein the deal components of theprospective deal, including the population-neutral deal components ofthe prospective deal and the population-specific deal components of theprospective deal, include the distance characteristic, the market sizecharacteristic, the price characteristic, the discount characteristic,and the brand strength characteristic; determine one or more targetconsumer device populations to which the prospective deal will beoffered based at least on the offer period; determine selected yieldcurve functions from the yield curve functions stored within thedatabase based on querying the database using the deal components of theprospective deal, including the population-neutral deal components ofthe prospective deal and the population-specific deal components of theprospective deal, and the one or more target consumer device populationsto which the prospective deal will be offered, wherein the selectedyield curve functions include a yield curve function for each of thedistance characteristic, market size characteristic, pricecharacteristic, discount characteristic, and brand strengthcharacteristic; determine expected yield values for each of the selectedyield curve functions by providing, as input, the deal components of theprospective deal associated with each selected yield curve function,wherein the expected yield values include a yield value for each of thedistance characteristic, market size characteristic, pricecharacteristic, discount characteristic, and brand strengthcharacteristic; adjusting the expected yield values for each of theselected yield curve functions on a per deal component basis, inaccordance with weighting factors, to generate adjusted expected yieldvalues; determine an associated threshold for each of the expected yieldvalues; compare one or more adjusted expected yield values against theassociated thresholds for each of the expected yield values to determinewhether to accept the prospective deal for offering to the one or moretarget consumer device populations; accept the prospective deal foroffering to the target consumer device population via the network wheneach of the expected yield values satisfy the associated threshold foreach of the expected yield values; and reject the prospective deal foroffering to the target consumer device population via the network wheneach of the expected yield values do not satisfy the associatedthreshold for each of the expected yield values; and provide, over thenetwork, to the user interface associated with the remotely locatedmerchant that the prospective deal has been accepted or rejected,wherein if the prospective deal is rejected the providing of therejection includes information about the expected yields that caused theprospective deal to be rejected and a recommendation about improving theexpected yield.
 22. The computer program product of claim 21, whereinthe recommendation about improving the expected yield includes removingat least one of the merchant specified deal components.